Welcome to
Pino's Dolce Vita

Hand-making the finest smallgoods and showcasing the highest quality meats and imported Italian food products available, Pino's Dolce Vita has been the definitive source of authentic Italian produce in Sydney for over three decades.

Starting with Pino Tomini Foresti and his wife Pia in 1978, this family owned and run business is proud to continue the traditions of over seven generations of artisan skill, knowledge and passion.

Cooking School

Run by Carla Tomini Foresti, a teacher and cook with a background in nutrition, she is a vital part of the eighth generation of the Tomini Foresti family. Together with a passionate community of culinary experts, they present cooking classes with a difference.

Centred around the Italian tradition of sharing with the community and treating everyone like family, classes are based around passing practical, tradition-based skills to participants so that they can in turn, share it with their loved ones.

Teachers include guest chefs from some of Sydney's best restaurants, experts in the culinary arts of chocolate, pastry making, butter and pasta, as well as masterclasses in smallgoods and butchery by Pino Tomini Foresti himself.

Whether you're a beginner or a professional chef, there are classes suitable for all skills, from kids in the kitchen to advanced butchery techniques.

Events

In 2012, Pino's Dolce Vita grew their story. Breaking down the walls to expand their offering, the store now includes a fully equipped demonstration kitchen, an impressive, custom-built floor to ceiling room, showcasing handmade smallgoods and imported cheeses... and most importantly, a long table to share delicious meals with friends.

Pino's Dolce Vita is available to host standing functions of up to 150 people and seated events for up to 50 guests. Whether it's a private cooking demonstration followed by dinner, a media launch or family event, Pino's can tailor an event package to suit your requirements, and most importantly, they'll make you and your guests feel like part of the family.

About

When you walk through the door, you're stepping into the home and heart of the Tomini Foresti Family. Over thirty years of serving Sydney, and over seven generations of skill and knowledge is evident in every aspect of the experience.

You'll be greeted by a member of the family and guided expertly through the full range of produce on offer, from over 100 types of sausage, fresh cuts of prime meat produce, handmade smallgoods or imported cheese and deli good, it's all here.

Nothing but the best

You'll find some of the best produce available in Australia right here. Pino's is proud to present fresh meat produce including Taralga Springs pasture-fed beef, Gundooee organic Wagyu and Bangalow Sweet pork. We also stock the highest quality chicken, veal, goat and kangaroo, and if there is something specific you're looking for, just ask us.

History

The story starts in Calabria. In the small village of Terranova, in Italy's south, Pino Tomini Foresti was born into a family that for generations, provided their community with artisan smallgoods and fresh meat, the traditional way.

Moving to Australia at the age of 16, Pino continued the traditions with his uncles of their Mt Prichard butcher shop. In 1978, a year after marrying the love of his life and business partner Pia, he realised his dream of opening his own business in Kogarah, in Sydney's southern suburbs. From there, the family began producing smallgoods and stocking top quality fresh meat to the community.

Learning from experts from a vast range of cultural traditions, Pino's fascination with South American, Spanish and Portuguese produce has resulted in creating a range of products that speak in many different accents and give the consumer an exciting range of flavours and food experiences to enjoy at home.

The range now includes over 100 varieties of sausages (all gluten free), a growing range of smallgoods, made by hand on site, as well as carefully selected cheeses. Top quality Italian groceries sit alongside equally fantastic counterparts from Australia, providing shoppers with the luxury of choice.

Pino and Pia's children Marco, Fabiano and Carla are the next chapter in the Pino's Dolce Vita story, working alongside their parents to tell the next part of the story.

People

We're nothing without family. The concept of a family-run business is no more clear than here. Started by Pino and Pia, their children Marco, Fabiano and Carla are the future of the business and a vital part of every day at the store.

Pino
It all started with Pino. Now widely regarded as an Australian food industry icon, Pino Tomini Foresti was born into the seventh generation of a butchery family in Terranova, Calabria in the south of Italy. By the time he was 8, he already possessed skills that would make most butchers these days blush. Moving to Australia at 16 and undertaking an apprenticeship to learn about the Australian industry, he opened his business over thirty years ago and hasn't looked back. Bringing traditional, age-old techniques to prime Australian produce, and sharing the amazing results with his loyal customers, he produces specialty smallgoods for some of Sydney's best restaurants and counts some of Australia's most celebrated chefs as loyal regulars and friends. Pino continues to share his passion and knowledge with the next generation of Pino's Dolce Vita, his children Carla, Fabiano and Marco, as well as with customers in the store and through masterclasses in the cooking school.

Pia
In many ways, Pia is the heart and soul of the business... they say behind every great man is an even greater woman, after all! The matriarch of such a formidable family means hard work, generosity and a lot of love. A year after Pia and Pino married, they started their business and together over more than three decades, they have built not only a business, but a reputation for producing the finest produce, using the best ingredients. Pia works tirelessly to create a warm and inviting atmosphere at Pino's Dolce Vita and always finds the time to share information with customers, who walk away with a smile... and a laden bag of treasures to cook at home.

Fabiano
The eldest of the three Tomini Foresti children, Fabiano grew up observing the traditional processes that make the family business unique, and constantly questioned how things were made and why. This natural curiosity led him to become a seasoned expert in the production of smallgoods at the store. Together with Pino, he is responsible for creating new and exciting flavours and recipes for sausages and smallgoods, which sit alongside the traditional offerings handed down from generations of experience.

Carla
As a teacher and with a background in nutrition, Carla brings her own brand of style and knowledge to the Pino's Dolce Vita experience. Spending her formative years at the apron of her mother, father and grandparents, at home and in the store, her accumulated experience and appreciation of the shared table is one she expresses in her classes. The experts she curates to teach at the cooking school share this same rich outlook on food education and with them comes a wealth of knowledge everyone can learn from.

Marco
Marco started helping out at his parent's store from a young age, if nothing more than to keep himself out of trouble! After highschool, he studied business management and decided to join the family business in order to help achieve its full potential. Travelling to Italy to discover the origins of his family, he returned with a clear idea of what Pino's could become and set about making plans to renovate. Expanding the butchery into a food store, cafe and panino bar (paninoteca), the new offerings created a community hub and a home away from home. Marco's role at Pino's is that of operations manager, but in a small business, this also means his job description includes smallgoods maker, bookkeeper and customer greeter, too!

Cafe

Everywhere you go in Italy, you'll find small cafes and paninotecas (sandwich shops) dotted around the place. A place to sit down, have a bite to eat and catch up on the local news, this idea formed the basis for our very own cafe. Whether it's a coffee and a Nutella toasted panino (we import our Nutella direct from Italy) after your weekly shop, or a long, leisurely lunch of veal saltimbocca, fresh pasta or other seasonal delights, our cafe is your cafe. Buon appetito!

Our menu changes regularly, according to what's in season. Click here to see a sample menu.

Process

How we do what we do is what sets us apart from the rest. As a family, we share over seven generations of smallgoods and butchery tradition, skill and knowledge. It's in our blood.

It starts with the best quality ingredients. We source meat from some of Australia's best producers, who rear their animals to be the best in their category. We have a close relationship the farmer or producer of each an every piece of produce that comes into the shop.

Our suppliers include

...as well as several other small suppliers who raise their livestock according to strict standards of care.

We receive carcasses whole and break them down ourselves, which is steadily becoming a lost art. We can tell you how each animal was raised, kept, fed and the qualities of each breed. Our preference is to choose animals that are pasture-fed and raised in a free-range environment because we believe it makes a better product. These animals are free from added growth hormones or therapeutic antibiotics and the meat is dry aged for several days before being processed. This gives the meat a more tender eating quality and better flavour.

We produce all of our own smallgoods from these pieces of prime Australian produce, from bacon to salami, ham, lardo, bresaola and more - no part of the animal is ever wasted. As a specialty butcher, we pride ourselves on being able to help you source specialty items and cut meat to your specifications on request.